Colour news
FestivalsPhotos of the weekColour of the yearEvery 2027 Color of the Year We Know So FarFashion and designThe 8 Colors Fashion Girls are Building Their Fall Wardrobes AroundFestivalsIn India, Holi welcomes spring with a Festival of ColorsColour of the yearTom’s Watch Bar Partners With Dodgers Fan Club Pantone 294Craft and textilesMore clues to Maya blueCraft and textilesDesigners Say These 6 Unexpected Paint Colors Can Make Any Room Feel Instantly Warmer and More InvitingCraft and textilesMacron and UYBA Volley present the new 2026/27 Game SetCraft and textilesThe Souls I (Grafix Gold, Topaz, Chilli Red) (2010) by Damien Hirst - For SaleCraft and textilesBalenciaga Spring/Summer2027 Runway Dips Into ColourFestivalsPhotos of the weekColour of the yearEvery 2027 Color of the Year We Know So FarFashion and designThe 8 Colors Fashion Girls are Building Their Fall Wardrobes AroundFestivalsIn India, Holi welcomes spring with a Festival of ColorsColour of the yearTom’s Watch Bar Partners With Dodgers Fan Club Pantone 294Craft and textilesMore clues to Maya blueCraft and textilesDesigners Say These 6 Unexpected Paint Colors Can Make Any Room Feel Instantly Warmer and More InvitingCraft and textilesMacron and UYBA Volley present the new 2026/27 Game SetCraft and textilesThe Souls I (Grafix Gold, Topaz, Chilli Red) (2010) by Damien Hirst - For SaleCraft and textilesBalenciaga Spring/Summer2027 Runway Dips Into Colour
Rang

Next: 14 Apr 2027

Pohela Boishakh

Red and white: white saris with red borders, red and white panjabis, and a parade of giant painted masks in Dhaka.

Mongol Shovajatra one of the traditional culture of Bangladeshi during Bengali New Year festival.
Photo: Abidhasan00, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The colours of Pohela Boishakh

Pohela Boishakh is the first day of the Bengali year. In Bangladesh, and a day later in West Bengal, people dress in red and white. Women wear white cotton saris with a red border, red bindis and flowers in their hair; men wear white or red panjabis. One explanation links the colours to the halkhata, the shopkeeper's new account book opened on this day, which is bound in red cloth with white pages. In Dhaka, students of the Faculty of Fine Arts lead a procession with giant papier-mâché owls, tigers and birds painted in bright folk colours, which is on the UNESCO list of intangible heritage. Streets and courtyards are painted with alpana, white patterns drawn with rice paste.

#D7261EBoishakhi redSari borders, bindis and the cover of the new ledger.
#FFFFFFBoishakhi whiteCotton saris and the pages of the ledger.
#F5B301Mask yellowPainted masks and figures in the Dhaka procession.
#F4F1E8Alpana whiteRice-paste patterns on the road.

Values are fair approximations, not official shades.

Read about the colours

RedWith white, the dress of the day.WhiteWith red, the dress of the day.VermilionThe red of bindi and sindoor.
About this page

Written by the Rang desk with AI assistance. Background: "Pohela Boishakh" on Wikipedia. Customs differ from family to family and place to place. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.

The weekly palette

Every Monday: seven colours you may not know, what the world is wearing this week, and one idea about colour.